CLiNT: Mark Millar's New Project

What's that, you say? Print periodical's are dying? This looks like a job for Mark Millar! Or, at least that is what I imagine he must have been thinking when he embarked on his new business venture and resolved to publish CLiNT. And no, I do not think it is an accident that CLiNT looks a lot like another of Millar's favorite words. That being said, Millar has officially teamed up with Titan Magazine, a British periodical publisher, to release his very own magazine. British personality Jonathan Ross and stand-up comedian Frankie Boyle will be contributing to the mag as writers, and if that wasn't enough to get you Brits out to your local bookstore to pick up this stuff, Millar plans to include the sequel to the Kick-Ass movie in the first issue of CLiNT. 

"Kick-Ass 2: Balls To The Wall" has been scheduled for production in 2011 for a 2012 cinema release, but fans of the first movie can find out what happens two years in advance by picking up CLiNT...The 100-page magazine will be packed with interviews and features from movies, games and television as well as four serialized comic-strips. The biggest names in entertainment will be featured every month and some will even be sticking around to write sci-fi, humour or horror stories after they’ve been interviewed and quizzed."

Does this sound like a British version of Wizard magazine to anyone? Ironically, this year's July issue of Wizard Magazine will be edited by Millar as a part of their relaunch. I guess he needed to whet his appetite before heading into magazine publishing, right? I have to hand it to him though for opting to publish the sequel to his "hit movie" in the first issue, but hey, you have to bribe people to pick up the issue somehow, right? Hopefully for Millar, it will be so good, it will leave readers wanting more. Enough picking on Millar though, it is rather odd (at least to me) that he has decided to publish a magazine that seems so similar to Wizard when I am sure he knows that Wizard's sales have been on a decline for years. Not just Wizard magazine, either- all print magazines have suffered since people realized they can obtain all of the same information online and don't have to wait for it. 

In 2009, print magazines lost advertisers, readers, and now, it seems, the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library. This year, the branch will spend about $385,000 on periodicals, down nearly $75,000 from the year before. The reason is no surprise: magazine closings, and a switch to online databases.

Who knows? Perhaps CLiNT will overcome the dying magazine industry and come out on top? Anything is possible. CLiNT will be available in the UK on September 2nd, 2010 and be available for subscriptions in the United States.